The New York Times is doing a fullcourt press to influence Saudi chief of state Crown Prince Abdullah to formally announce his plan to spearhead normalization of Arab relations with Israel in exchange for a negotiated peace with the Palestinians, as Thomas Friedman described on Sunday (a blink to which I had here). Here’s an editorial and further op-ed analysis by Mideast analyst Henry Seigman. In the meantime, Israel and the Palestinians are closer to all-out war than they have ever been; Israel steps up ‘retaliatory’ attacks and the Palestinians are more explicitly targeting — successfully — Israeli troops in the occupied territories. Sharon pushes forward with plans for ‘buffer zones’ bordering Palestinian areas in Gaza and the West Bank to ‘achieve separation’ and ‘protect Israeli citizens.’ Reuters